Week 3

Week 3 Review

Thursday Night

Giants 36, Panthers 7

For New York:

Everyone talked all week about how the injuries were going to negatively affect this team. Well all the Giants did was go out on the road and smack a talented Panther’s team. The Giants always do this. Just when you doubt them they go out and prove us all wrong.
The Giants showed why I admire them so much. They are run so well and are one of the best-built teams in the league. Their headline players were injured and unheralded backups like Andre Brown and Ramses Barden stepped up and dominated.
This was the first game this season that the Giants defensive line dominated like they are capable. Jason Pierre-Paul came out and totally dominated. The Giants pressured Newton on all of his snaps and also played Carolina’s zone read option runs.

For Carolina:

Wow, Carolina blew this bad. This was their first primetime game in the Cam Newton era and they got whipped at home. This could have been their coming out party against a beat up Super Bowl champion, but instead they showed that they are not ready.
Cam Newton and the offense were a complete disappointment. The running game started off well, but the team fell in such an early hole they had to resort to all passing. That did not settle well as Newton had no protection and reverted to some poor decisions.
Carolina’s defense is a complete joke. I tweeted about Hakuri Nakamura, and he and Josh Norman were horrible in particular, but in general it was just the entire unit underperforming. The Panthers put a lot of resources into this unit, but it still is holding this team back.

NO SUNDAY RECAPS POSTED THIS WEEK! I did not get to watch the games do to travel issues. My deepest apologies and assurances it will not happen again!

Monday Night Recap

Seahawks 14, Packers 12*

NFL 1, Fans 0

Administrator note: You noticed the different format for this weeks Monday night’s games did you? Well yes I will be discussing the actual performances of the teams while keeping replacement ref talk to a minimum in the real recap. Have no fear; in my second recap I will let loose all my thoughts on the subject.

For Seattle:

The big, on the field, take away from this game has to be the Seahawks’ defense. It just may be the best in the league. Their secondary is filled with big time gamers, even though they remain relatively unknown, and K.J. Wright is turning into a star at linebacker. The real stars are on the front four however. Chris Clemmons abused Marshall Newhouse for a whopping four sacks, and much maligned draft pick Bruce Irvin harassed Brian Bulaga for two of his own tow sacks. Brandon Mebane collected two sacks of his own and this was all in the first half! This unit should be known throughout the country because it is unrelenting.
On offense Seattle bullied the Green Bay front as well. Marshawn Lynch battered and bruised his way to 98 yards rushing behind an o-line that never stopped pushing. My only real concern here is that the coaches continue to put Russell Wilson in a conservative game plan. In my opinion this kid is a playmaker and they should let him loose as they did in the preseason. Do they trust him less than they did then, and if they do why? Let the kid and go out and win games; they were way too conservative on the infamous last drive.

For Green Bay:

The Packers were robbed, but that is coming later in the recap. For now we need to focus on this team. For starters I am now legitimately concerned about the offense. It can still be amongst the best in the league, but it has been, at best, inconsistent. Their line was horrific in the first half and Aaron Rodgers and the boys consequently got nothing done. In the second half though we saw the Packers we are used to. Rodgers led them down the field for three scoring drives and was sharp and decisive. With his protection tightened up Rodgers put the Packers in position to win the game.
The defense continues to play well. They put some heat on Russell Wilson for most of the night and only let up the one big play in the second quarter to Golden Tate. Even though he pounded them all night, they also never let Lynch break free for a big gain all evening. Yes the Packers did let the Seahawks into scoring territory, but we all know why that happened. Now for what you have all been waiting for…

For the Fans:

The disaster unfolded as Golden Tate and M.D. Jennings wrestled for the ball following a Hail Mary pass; one replacement ref signaled touchback (meaning an interception) while the other incorrectly signaled touchdown. The call was reviewed and EVERYONE in America could CLEARLY see M.D. Jennings of the Packers came away with an interception. Well, everyone but those who reviewed the call, as the touchdown somehow stood. The Packers furiously walked off the field without completing the extra point defense, though they later returned. They were robbed of a victory yesterday and that is why, on this website, both the Seahawks and Packers records all year will have an asterisk, as it should in real life. The sad thing is I did not even mention all the other egregious piss poor calls made by the replacements on that drive against the Packers or against the Seahawks earlier in the game.
Watching the game incorrectly go to the losing team because of this error honestly made me sick to my stomach. I knew it was only a matter of time until this happened and we would all watch in horror while a referee error would cost a team a game. I love the league more than anyone, but this is now a circus. We as fans are getting the short hand in this equation. We have made this league into a powerhouse because we all love it so much and consume it at least three, sometimes more, days a week. However this season is now being cheapened by the use of these refs who clearly are not ready for the situation they are being thrown into. If you want a great article on how this is becoming a dire situation for fans check out Rick Riley’s article from this morning (http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8423458/replacements). The losers in this equation: us, along with all the players who put their bodies on the line every week for this.

For the NFL:

Wow, just wow. I am totally blown away by how the league has handled this situation. It is all greed. You can blame the commissioner all you want and he certainly is looking worse by the minute, but the blame falls all with the owners of your favorite team, because Steve Young said it best “they don’t care”. If you think the league did not know something like this was going to happen eventually you are naive. If you think they were not prepared to take unprecedented heat from media and have their ethics called into question you have not been paying attention. They knew what they were doing when, for the second year in a row, they locked out their employees and said “sorry, it’s our way or the highway”. The owners showed us last year they were wiling to alienate their most valuable employees, their players, so why would we think they wouldn’t do the same to some “easily replaceable” officials? We should have expected this because that is how these owners are. If you think this latest debacle by the poor replacement refs is the “tipping point” in the negotiations, do not kid yourself. The owners are dug in here as always and are ready for this. I will repeat THEY DO NOT CARE!
So why, despite the fact that they are being embarrassed and humiliated during the height of their popularity is the NFL winning? Because they are still making more money than most of us can imagine. That is the key here, ratings will not go down, and if anything this controversy will only make the NFL more talked about and bring in more interest and cash. To get into the mind of an NFL owner check out Dan Graziano’s article featuring Dallas owner Jerry Jones take on last night (http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/43617/jerry-jones-thinks-youre-stupid). The NFL owners think we are all stupid, because they know we won’t do a darn thing but keep watching the games and filling their wallet. The majority of fans will still go to games or watch them on Sundays, and most of them will still buy their favorite team’s shirts and jerseys. A player strike? Sorry, but the owners already guaranteed that will never happen when they wiped the floor with the players in the new CBA last year. The NFL will still be plenty rich no matter who officiates games. The league is too big a machine to be stopped, and that is why we all love it so much. Face facts, your team’s owner, and all the others, does not care about you. They care about making more money, and they are still dong just that. The owners do not care that the Packers should be 2-1 right now and the Seahawks should be 1-2, and they will not care if/when this happens again. That is why the NFL wins, and we lose.